


Costume

by Simply_Isnt_On



Series: Torchwood Fic Week [4]
Category: Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-05 21:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5390585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simply_Isnt_On/pseuds/Simply_Isnt_On
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone wears a costume, it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Costume

It was easy to forget, at first. As much as Lisa was his world, it was easy not to notice the metal, the bare skin, the loss of her beautiful hair. And she seemed so eager to be cured, but it turned out she simply wanted to be free. Free to destroy, free to bring about a race of terror and pain. But even after all of that, even when she finally died, Ianto couldn’t help but think of the cyberware as a costume, keeping them apart.

And then there was Jack. Ianto couldn’t help but see that costume, layered so deeply into his skin that even death couldn’t shake it. His smell, his eyes, his smile reeked of synthesis, of careful planning and easy nonchalance. From the first kiss, Ianto was trying to burrow beneath it, get between Jack and the skin he wore long enough to tear it free. If only he could get beneath it, just for a moment, he was sure it would tear away like dust and cobwebs, crumble like so much sand between his fingers.

Jack knew. Of course, Jack knew. How could he not? Ianto’s nosing where ordinarily he was silent, his prodding, his clumsy attempts at surveillance. Sometimes, his efforts were so charming it was all Jack could do not to tear his persona away, let him see behind the mask. But it stayed, firmly affixed with lies and half-truths which had begun to wear like a second skin.

Sometimes Jack thought that if Ianto managed, for a moment, to see a real glimpse of him, to get beneath his skin, to really touch him- well, Jack thought, that might just kill him.

It wasn’t till after Ianto’s death that Jack realized Ianto had found a way in long ago, had been resting just beneath his heart, warm and trusting. And maybe Ianto had known the real him, but now Jack would never know. Because if there was one thing Captain Jack Harkness was good at, it was missing his chance.


End file.
